Searching for Suckers
Saturday, 11. April 2009, 15:06:38
Like most people, when I need to search for something on the Internet, I use Google. Not only is it popular but it's a trusted brand name as well. However, a recent event has me wondering just how much Google cares about protecting its users.
My father loves to get his hands on the latest gadgets. Even more so if it's some new video game system. He recently picked up the new Nintendo Dsi and was excited by the fact it plays music. Yet for some stupid reason it will not play MP3 files, only files using the AAC format made popular by the ever so shitty iPod. Lacking a utility to convert files to AAC, I suggested he use iTunes. Nero makes a free command line encoder but I knew that would be over his head.
Like most people would, my dad went to Google and searched for "itunes". This is what he saw:
Now, it's pretty well known that Google does feature "sponsored links" in its search results. Companies pay to have these links displayed if a relevant search is performed. For reasons I can't explain, the sponsored links may appear beneath the results, on the right side, in both places, or not at all. In my father's case they appeared as shown above.
Sponsored link #2 is what causes me the most concern. The green text is supposed to show you the address of the link for that result, except in this case it's wrong. Following the 2nd link takes you to: http://www.itunesus.cn/zx.html
When this company purchased this sponsored link, they used a deceptive url description to make it look like the site was going to Apple.com, when in fact it goes to some server located in China. Apparently Google does not verify if the URLs given are bogus or not. In fact, I'm not sure they check the links at all. I have to wonder why they let the sponsor choose their own URL. Look at the sponsored pages:
All appear to be different, but in fact they are not. All of these pages are designed to snag people looking for iTunes and lead them to a sign up page for paid memberships. Not memberships with Apple, but some unknown entity. On one of the pages, all the text links take you to the same sign-up page no matter where you click. What exactly does this membership do for you? It's hard to really be sure since the pages themselves are very vague about what they are selling you. For shits and giggles I emailed the support staff asking what I would be getting for a 1 year membership at $29.88 and got this rather generic reply:
The usual smoke and mirrors.
Unfortunately, while selling useless memberships to people who were just looking to download iTunes may seem like a scam, it's probably not illegal. I don't expect Google to examine every business to determine it's legitimacy, but I do expect them to prevent companies from using deceptive advertising since they are the ones delivering the message. My dad didn't fall for this trick, but I can see how other people might.
I shouldn't single out Google, since Yahoo also has nearly the same sponsors on their pages. I was impressed with Microsoft's Live Search as it did not contain any sponsored links when searching for "itunes". Though that may only be because the advertisers target the two top search engines and ignore the rest. While Google is valued because of the quality and quantity of their results.... perhaps using a less popular search engine gives you a little more protection from bogus companies looking to make quick cash.
My father loves to get his hands on the latest gadgets. Even more so if it's some new video game system. He recently picked up the new Nintendo Dsi and was excited by the fact it plays music. Yet for some stupid reason it will not play MP3 files, only files using the AAC format made popular by the ever so shitty iPod. Lacking a utility to convert files to AAC, I suggested he use iTunes. Nero makes a free command line encoder but I knew that would be over his head.
Like most people would, my dad went to Google and searched for "itunes". This is what he saw:
Now, it's pretty well known that Google does feature "sponsored links" in its search results. Companies pay to have these links displayed if a relevant search is performed. For reasons I can't explain, the sponsored links may appear beneath the results, on the right side, in both places, or not at all. In my father's case they appeared as shown above.
Sponsored link #2 is what causes me the most concern. The green text is supposed to show you the address of the link for that result, except in this case it's wrong. Following the 2nd link takes you to: http://www.itunesus.cn/zx.html
When this company purchased this sponsored link, they used a deceptive url description to make it look like the site was going to Apple.com, when in fact it goes to some server located in China. Apparently Google does not verify if the URLs given are bogus or not. In fact, I'm not sure they check the links at all. I have to wonder why they let the sponsor choose their own URL. Look at the sponsored pages:
All appear to be different, but in fact they are not. All of these pages are designed to snag people looking for iTunes and lead them to a sign up page for paid memberships. Not memberships with Apple, but some unknown entity. On one of the pages, all the text links take you to the same sign-up page no matter where you click. What exactly does this membership do for you? It's hard to really be sure since the pages themselves are very vague about what they are selling you. For shits and giggles I emailed the support staff asking what I would be getting for a 1 year membership at $29.88 and got this rather generic reply:
Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting our support team.
You can now get instant access to millions of Software, Games, MP3's, Movies, TV shows and much, much more...
Depending on the membership length chosen and special bonus offers selected, the membership value can start as low as $19.95 USD.
(blah blah, great offer, blah blah, no monthly fee, blah blah, money back guarantee)
The usual smoke and mirrors.
Unfortunately, while selling useless memberships to people who were just looking to download iTunes may seem like a scam, it's probably not illegal. I don't expect Google to examine every business to determine it's legitimacy, but I do expect them to prevent companies from using deceptive advertising since they are the ones delivering the message. My dad didn't fall for this trick, but I can see how other people might.I shouldn't single out Google, since Yahoo also has nearly the same sponsors on their pages. I was impressed with Microsoft's Live Search as it did not contain any sponsored links when searching for "itunes". Though that may only be because the advertisers target the two top search engines and ignore the rest. While Google is valued because of the quality and quantity of their results.... perhaps using a less popular search engine gives you a little more protection from bogus companies looking to make quick cash.
WIDGETIZE
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